Monday, November 22, 2010

We have standards?

Our electronic charting system annoys me regularly, but it has one very useful feature: the "pop-up reminder." There's a lot of stuff that we need to keep track of that doesn't need to be part of the "permanent medical record:" what pharmacy patients are currently using, who their primary care practitioner is, when does their probation supervision expire, etc. The pop-up function is very handy for noting these things.I was checking charts last week and found the following pop-up in a patient's chart: "Not allowed to contact LuAnn for any reason. Do not put through to her voice mail either!" LuAnn is one of our social workers, so this was odd. When I had time, I asked her about it."Yeah, he was wildly inappropriate the last time I saw him. I mean, even by my admittedly low standards, he was really inappropriate."

HIPPA Warning:

No accurate patient information is contained here. If you think you recognize the description of yourself or a friend or family member in these writings, you're mistaken. And if you believe that our patients and co-workers are actually legendary sportsmen, dead politicians, famous generals, or noteworthy thespians, I've got some swampland to sell you.